As economic growth and a population boom force increasing cooperation between the University and State College, the two have slowed their search for further solutions to their parking quandaries.

Borough and University officials are hoping the long-planned Park- and-Ride system, scheduled to roll next week, will clear unwanted cars from State College's commercial district and promote public transportation.

If successful, though, the system can only solve a small part of the area's overflowing lots, officials say. Outside of Park-and-Ride, neither the borough nor the University have concrete plans to tackle the rest of the problem together.

And meanwhile, some people on both sides of College Avenue blame each other for their woes.

Councilman Peter Lang said the University has contributed to the borough's overcrowded streets by attracting students with cars to State College. Because the borough cannot tax University land, it has no direct source of income to offset the increased traffic impact, he said.

Lang said the University could help the borough financially by paying an impact fee to offset the problems it causes.

"It wouldn't hurt for (the University) to make a contribution to the borough's till," Lang said. "We can't close our eyes to the fact that we exist here together. We would build up a wall around ourselves otherwise."

However, some University parking officials say the borough, not the University, is responsible for its crowded streets.

University Parking Director Allan Derzak and Assistant Director Doug Holmes blame the borough's in-lieu fee system for overflowing lots on campus and in the borough. Developers can pay into the borough's in-lieu parking fund as an option to building their own parking facility.

"Ideally, the developer should assume responsibility for parking," said Doug Holmes, the University's assistant parking director. "When they don't, the borough should."

At the end of every summer, thousands of student cars flood the borough's streets and cram parking lots that had been empty and inviting to borough residents.

Three weeks after classes began, many students, unable to park on campus, packed the 478-space Pugh Street Garage before taking their cars home, said Teri Johnson, a part-time fare collector at the garage.

Holmes points to a backlog of more than 150 off-campus students who wanted to park in the University's new 750-space off-campus lot as proof that many students can not afford apartment parking rates in the borough.

Lisa Panayiotou (junior-graphics) and her roommates invested in the University's on-campus parking permit system. But while the program is less expensive than parking downtown, students face the added hassle of moving their cars from the lot on football weekends.

"This town is too small for all these people," Panayiotou said. "People are still going to bring their cars up whether there's a problem or not."

Borough Planning Director Carl Hess said the in-lieu system is not to blame for most of the borough's parking problems. Several residential buildings that supply little or no parking for their tenants were constructed between 1978 and 1986 when the borough had no law that required sufficient parking, Hess said.

Council President Gary Wiser said he has been pleased with the communication between the borough and University on parking and transportation issues, and has perceived no town-gown contention over the responsibility of parking problems.

"I think that people are frustrated," Wiser said. "But I haven't heard the town blame the University and the University blame the town."

But James Deeslie, president of the Highland Neighborhood Association, said many residents are troubled by cars belonging to University students and faculty who work downtown in the Rider and Herlocher buildings.

He said his association wants to clear the streets of cars from the University which have "turned downtown neighborhoods into parking lots."

"Why should we be penalized for living close to downtown?" Deeslie asked.

Borough Planning Director Carl Hess indicated these feelings are not limited to a handful of people.

"There is a widespread perception in the neighborhoods that people who decline to buy permits on campus park on neighborhood streets," he said.

Councilwoman Ruth Lavin agreed University employees have an impact on the borough. She said many switched from parking on the campus to downtown streets when the University started charging for parking two years ago.

Lavin said the borough's parking office has videotaped evidence that many campus employees use borough streets for parking. She added that this could have been prevented in part by graduating the $8 campus parking fee.

Derzak said the University initiated the fee to cover the cost of future parking garages.

The borough's Fraser and Pugh street garages charge $48 for a month of unlimited parking, or $15 a month to park overnight.

Downtown residential parking rates average about $40 a month. Associated Realty, which manages several large buildings -- including Beaver Plaza, Beaver Terrace, University Towers and University Gateway -- charges from about $20 to $50 a month.

Holmes said making a profit is not the University's objective.

"If I could charge the going rate for parking spaces, I could solve our parking problem in two weeks," Holmes said.

Derzak said the borough could pay for a garage on campus, providing parking for downtown students unable to locate or afford a space in their apartment complexes.

"My feeling is that if the borough says (to the University), 'It's your students, it's your parking problem,' that's a misconception," he said.

Dave Stormer, the University's assistant vice president for safety and environmental health, said the borough cannot assume that because future parking sites are expensive and hard to acquire in State College, that University land is a cheap alternative.

"The assumption is that University land is less valuable than borough land," Stormer said.

Wiser said the University has also helped clear borough streets of cars by constructing the 220-space parking deck on campus for faculty and conference guests. Beyond that, however, Penn State and borough officials have no further plans to help each other's parking problems, he said.

Although parking is generally more expensive in the borough, students have not been entirely forgotten.

The borough recently implemented the $15 monthly overnight parking fee at the Pugh and Fraser street garages for residents who have difficulty finding affordable parking, said Lang who suggested the plan years ago. Between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. the cars are assessed the regular 40 cent hourly fee.

Landlord Arlan Temeles also has tried to keep rates down in his lots by charging tenants $20 a month to park in his East Fairmount and West Beaver avenue lots.

"I think we're cheaper than anyone else," he said. "I think we make a profit, but we're not trying to gouge anyone."